Dear Bob, here are some photos of my life here on the campus of Concordia Seminary. I love kids, working with the grounds crew, swimming, playing with my dog friends, and especially my own family people.

Twitter Updates

August 17, 2017

Late yesterday afternoon St. Louis suffered a torrential downpour and storm right about the time rush hour was beginning. It got dark, windy and rained so heavily that roads flooded, accidents happened and cars were bumper to bumper on interstates and surface streets. We got caught in this as we tried to take friends to dinner. Every main artery was filled with cars and the visibility was awful. But after it ended there must have been a terrific rainbow and in some areas, a double rainbow. KMOV channel 4 received a picture from a viewer who was on I-70 near St. Peter's when he caught this.

Very cool.

Then this from Canada. A woman weeding her vegetable garden pulled up a carrot with what turned out to be her mother in law's engagement ring inside which was lost 13 years ago.

August 16, 2017

I was looking at tv's online because we recently recycled two which had died. I noticed the prices are much lower than they used to be and most come with all kinds of connectivity. There are built in apps, WiFi, and most everything else. What stopped me was the many smart remotes which come with the tv's. How do these work when you have cable and it has it's own remote?

We don't even need the remote which comes with our television, the cable box has its own. So are the features on the smart remote not usable? I'll have to ask an expert. Sometimes we just want to watch tv, not wade through a ton of different things. Turn it on, find a channel and that's it.

The most important thing to me is having a high resolution tv, 1080 not the 720, there's a big difference in clarity. Not that 720 is bad, it's just that by comparison it's not as clear.

August 15, 2017

This tongue in cheek news release from the Collinsville Police Department is a great diversion from the other hundreds which have been put out by other entities. And there are probably 1000's of these others which take the form of cautionary tales. Well done Collinsville PD.

"With the solar eclipse coming next week, we thought it prudent to share with you a few things pertaining to this celestial event. By a process and method we don’t fully understand, the sun will be blocked out on August 21. We have been told this has happened before but being prepared is the key. In the event all life as we know it ends in the blink of an eye, we're done. Not much can really follow total annihilation of the Earth. Remember, there used to be dinosaurs. Short of that, we can work toward surviving the aftermath. As the sun fades from view, there is the very real possibility of the dead coming back to life. Feel secure in knowing we have a contingency plan in place for this. We are well trained and completely up to the task of taking the world back from these lethargic, smelly creatures should this occur. To be clear, we are talking zombies not teenagers. Some scientists state the solar eclipse may cause the gravitational pull of the earth to suddenly reverse polarity causing everything to become weightless and to spin off into space. To combat this possibility, we strongly encourage anchoring yourself to the ground through the use of a rope and a deeply rooted stake. Your dog, which is tied up outside, is already well ahead of the game. Take a lesson from them. If you want to stare at the sun so you can remember what it looks like before it fades from view forever, make sure you are using approved eyewear. Supposedly, aside from the yellow light we are used to seeing, there are lots of “invisible” lights like UVA, UVB, IR, and other initials that can make you blind. We understand, when the sun fades from view, everyone will be bumbling around in the darkness but, if you want to see as you make your way during the end times with flashlights and gas lanterns, you should heed the warnings. Finally, there is a minority of our officers (about 99%) who think nothing of any great significance will happen. They think the sky will get dark for a few minutes and then go back to normal. Whatever."

August 14, 2017

St. Louis and other cities have seen a plague of car break-ins, car thefts, and other crimes like this. They happen all over the area but the south city area has seen a huge uptick in these crimes. Now a story warns that we need to be aware of a big increase in stolen license plates. Plates are being stolen frequently (32 in Tower Grove in July alone).

This is one of those nuisance crimes, not only is the vehicle owner out his plates, he has to spend time with the department of motor vehicles to get replacements. Plus make sure the old plates and sticker are reported stolen. I had my car stickers stolen from my license plates last spring while at the airport. I was advised to scratch up the new ones after putting them on to deter thieves. But, man, now they're taking the whole plate.

During last year's Christmas season I moaned more than a little over the empty shelves where the Original Triscuits were supposed to be. The space for these Triscuits was empty and many stores while all the types with weird flavors were full. Since then, there has not been any problem getting the original crackers. Til now

This is what I came across in the Richmond Center Schnucks this weekend.

One lonely box was all that was there. This business with the original triscuits still peaks my curiosity, especially in this area. Who's buying all of them and why?

Food Network puts out a magazine each month which is chock full of information, photos and even quizzes. Unlike many magazine this one isn't full of ads. The September issue has several pages featuring cooking tips they've received from readers and many are fun and helpful. Here are a few I will definitely use.

If your butter is cold and hard which makes it difficult to spread on bread muffins or bagels, use a vegetable peeler to pull off thin strips.

Put foil on the inside of a Dutch Oven lid so you won't have to wash it. This one I will do for sure.

Several tips suggest adding a shot espresso to chili or a bit of instant coffee granules to gravy for a richer flavor.

An egg slicer cuts up mushrooms into even sized slices.

Once or twice a year I make a vegetable lasagna and it calls for a package of frozen spinach which has been thawed. This means having to squeeze the water out of the spinach and that is a bit of a pain. One tip advises using a potato ricer to squeeze out the water. I'm not sure I have a ricer, I used to, but if I can't find it I may go get one. They're very cheap and, it seems, worth it for spinach alone.

This one made me laugh, but since I don't like handling raw poultry, I may just try this. Use plastic grocery bags as gloves when you have to prepare raw poultry. Put one on each hand and supposedly you have mobility and lots of wiggle room. Toss them when done.

The Cardinals got themselves a new good luck animal last night, the kitten which was chased down and caught by a member of the grounds crew. If you live in the St Louis area you know all about the Rally Cat. Right after he was removed from the outfield, Yadi hit a grand slam home run which won the game. Here is a great picture posted by the St Louis Cardinals.

If you haven't seen the video of the cat capture it is here. What I loved was how the ground crew guy was actually able to nab the cat and then never lose his running stride back to the dugout area even when being bitten and scratched. And, the guy ended the run with the smoothest jump over the field wall you'll ever see. Even holding that cat.

August 09, 2017

If you live in the St. Louis area or other cities with Emerald Ash trees you know they've had to be cut down because of the influx of the Ash Borer. These trees just cannot survive this insect. But have you ever wondered what exactly the Ash Borer does to the tree? Dan Bovino, a Southside Chicagoan who is a wonderful and eclectic amateur photographer, got a shot of just what the borer does to the trees.

We can't see this under the bark and often believe the tree is fine. "The Emerald Ash Borer lays its eggs on the bark of an Ash tree and the larvae tunnel through the bark and begin consuming the sapwood of the tree. This feeding disrupts water flow to the canopy, dehydrating and killing that portion of the tree. Eventually the whole tree will die.".

Yesterday afternoon was quite the thing. A box with no return address was delivered to the seminary and very soon the Clayton police and St. Louis County bomb squad was here in force. Their dealings with this box took almost 3 hours while two or 3 buildings were evacuated, the main roads into the campus were shut down and yellow tape was put out to keep everyone way back. Students and staff milled around from various vantage points while wondering just what was happening. Then multiple news copters began circling over head and on the ground reporters showed up with their camera crews.

At firsts this was just an amusing distraction to an ordinary day, but the longer it went on and the more serious the police became, things changed a bit. In the end the box was either disabled or made "safe", but that is all the authorities would say.

The fence on the right is a shield blocking the construction of the library renovation. On the right is Loeber Hall which was the building involved.

The bomb truck. Dale and I went around to the back of the library to get a better view of what was going on.

When these guys headed into the building it was an impressive sight.

Two of them then came out and took a spool of yellow line and walked it from the building to the entrance to the campus. No one knew what this was all about.

Everyone mainly just milled around wondering what the deal was while Ferdie gave some distraction.

At the end someone said the call came, "fire in the hole" and a sound followed. But, it's unknown to us if they actually blew up the box since no one was willing to give out much information.

At the all clear reporters flocked to get some interviews and Dale was part of all that.

This interview was with KSDK, channel 5 and KMOX's Kevin Killeen. Kevin is the nicest guy in local media.

Our daughter, Elizabeth was watching FOX2's live feed of all this and took a screen shot of me circling a police car during this time.

Two of our students who work on grounds/landscape watched from their gator.

But when this woman walked toward the media area, the reporters dropped everything and ran to her. Right away we knew she was more than an average official. I heard Kevin Killeen say her name (which escapes me) and her official title in law enforcement, but they dropped everything when she appeared.

The fact that she came to the campus during this time made things much more serious. Her information to the reporters that the "package" was "now safe".

So we don't know if it was a box with bad stuff in it or it was made to look real in order to frighten us. All in all, we were so impressed with the abilities and work of the police. There were many on site and each person knew exactly what his/her role was.

August 07, 2017

Oddly, on Friday afternoon Dale was driving from Lutheran Hour Ministries back to campus when he was behind a pickup truck with several ladders and wouldn't you just know it? One fell off. He was well aware of the numbers of ladder and mattress falls in St. Louis so he got away from the truck before the ladder toppled off.

August 04, 2017

I learned yesterday that IDOT will be closing all westbound lanes of 55/70 in Illinois from 203 to the merge with 64. This begins tonight and ends Monday morning. This could be a real headache for travelers heading west from the eastern half of the country and there are many of those this time of year. The advice on the news for us locals is to get onto 255 and take it to 64 and then continue into St. Louis on the Poplar Street Bridge. Or, 255 to 270 and onto 70 if you're going out that way.

There are so many big semi's on 55/70 I'll be interested in seeing how they add to the confusion. Dale and I talked about how we'd go home from church on Sunday and decided that being locals, we'd do the surface street (Collinsville Road) from Collinsville through Fairmont City and into East St. Louis in order to get back onto the bridge. I just hope the big old semi's don't decide to do this too.

Yesterday was National Watermelon Day and aside from stories on how sweet, juicy and wonderful this fruit is during the summer months, there are also a few food writers who have to mess with it. They aren't content with just enjoying watermelon for itself, they have to trick it up. This one is just...no.

"If watermelons don't scream "summer," we don't know what does. With a combination of delicious flavors, like avocados, lime juice, feta cheese, and watermelon, this quick Watermelon Guacamole recipe will add some fun to the season. Grab your favorite tortilla chips and take a dip into this sweet twist on the classic guac, as you soak up some sun!"

Avocado is a great food, it is the best for dipping with some garlic and lime juice, maybe a bit of salsa, but piled into a watermelon, uh, no.

August 03, 2017

Use the airport bathroom before getting on your flight. The reason travel experts give for this are:

"If your flight is stuck on the ground or delayed, chances are high the seat belt sign will stay on and you’ll have to remain in your seat."

And if you try to head for the plane's loo, you'll be booted off the plane. In some cases planes which finally left the gate are turned around if someone just has to get up and go to the bathroom. They're taken off.

Confession here. In all the years I've had to fly, even as a kid, I have never ever used a plane's bathroom. I hope I never will. I'd guess I use the bathroom in an airport before a flight 3 times just to make sure I don't have to get up mid-flight and head down the aisle to the bathroom. Neither do I drink much of anything on the flight or before.